


Help From UNIT

by JulisCaesar



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: F/F, Fluff, i don't know what happened, three hours later have a fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 08:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2614994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulisCaesar/pseuds/JulisCaesar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate says brightly, "Does a week from Tuesday work for you?"<br/>"If it doesn't, Ianto can just be in charge," Gwen mutters.<br/>"That's the spirit."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help From UNIT

On the corkboard above the Senior Agent's desk in Torchwood 3 is a sheet of A4 paper.

It used to be titled "List of things I won't do" but that's crossed out with black pen and beside it is "List of things Jack didn't do" in the same pen. Beneath that is "and I probably shouldn't either". This is in pencil.

The sheet starts with "Shoot innocent humans" and immediately goes to "shoot innocent aliens" before meandering through a list of actions, most of them illegal, the rest merely odd.

Midway down is "Call UNIT for help."

~*~

Jack disappears the day after the new PM takes over, and Gwen looks at the sheet twice. It becomes irrelevant because they spend a period of time (she's not sure how much, later) in the Himalayas. When they return home, and Jack still isn't there...

Gwen moves her stuff to the Senior Agent's office, moves Jack's stuff into storage, tells Ianto to "suck it up and deal, if he's not coming back he's not coming back", and does her very best to put the wrath of God into Owen. At the least, he doesn't cause any major trouble for a week or so, by which point Gwen is up to her neck in forms and entirely unsure what to do with any of them. Jack had been in charge during the transition from Torchwood-3-under-Torchwood-1 to Torchwood-3-alone and his notes weren't particularly clear on which forms were still required.

It takes Gwen three weeks to get completely overwhelmed.

Three weeks and one day to read the list all the way through and wonder why "listen to northerners" is on it.

Three weeks and two days to pick up the phone and punch in the direct line to UNIT HQ.

~*~

Kate's response to being told she couldn't join UNIT was to create a fake identity and join under the name of "Charles Stewart". The deception held long enough for the Sergeant to sign off on her joining the scientists, at which point Daddy found out and the Sergeant found himself demoted and on liaison duty. There wasn’t anything Daddy (now to be called Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) could do about it, though, so he sighed and had her name changed back. Five years later, the "Brigadier" is a fiction as much as anything else, the man himself is more or less happy in a nursing home, and Kate has her own wing of scientists and is quite thrilled to be neck deep in alien corpses. She did her training as a doctor, but her bedside manner had always been rather... lacking.

The call isn't technically for her. It's technically for "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart" and should have gone to Brigadier Bambera, but unofficial UNIT policy is to route any questions for the Brig through her first, just in case it actually is something personal. Besides, her clearance is Top Secret in three countries.

"Hallo?" a woman says hesitantly when Kate picks up the phone. "Is this Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart?"

Kate isn't sure if she's out of touch or just clueless. "He's retired, I'm afraid."

There's a long pause from the other end. "Oh. Um..." She trails off and Kate finds herself intrigued.

"I'm UNIT's Chief Science Officer. What do you need?"

Another long pause. "This is Torchwood Three," the other says finally.

Kate raises her eyebrows in surprise. "Haven't heard from you guys in a while. Weevils out of control again?" Now who had she talked to last? Wasn't it that Jack? She wonders what had happened to him to put this woman in charge.

"No..."

Kate puts down her clipboard and shifts the phone from one ear to the other. "I need a little more detail. I'm good, but not telepathic."

"I don't know what I'm doing," the apparent leader of Torchwood Three says in a rush.

Now that Kate understands. "Okay. Aliens?"

"I know _that_." The self-righteous offense is very nearly deadly.

Kate begins to smile. "Right. Step one. Know any good coffee shops between London and Cardiff?”

~*~

Gwen isn't sure what she's expecting. Oh, she'd done the research (or had Tosh do it, either way). Kate Stewart, born Catherine Alice Lethbridge-Stewart, legally changed her name to Catherine Doris Alice Lethbridge-Stewart on the death of her mother, goes by Kate Stewart for all professional work. Trained as a medical doctor, spent a few years in residencies, then joined UNIT and to all accounts hasn't looked back.

Divorced once. Two children.

But none of that says anything of what the woman actually _is._ She's the Brigadier's daughter, and even Gwen knows of the Brig, but how much of that spirit was passed down to her? What is this woman like?

She's fascinated by the idea, and can't keep her mind off Kate Stewart the whole drive to the meeting.

When she walks up to the tiny cafe--Kate's suggestion, when Gwen had frozen up--UNIT has a security guard outside. He salutes, and Gwen tries to fumble a response.

She's saved by Kate coming out the door, smiling gently. "Don't worry, you're a civvy technically."

Gwen crosses her arms, the motion pushing her coat back and displaying the pistol on her waist.

Kate sighs. "Anyone not UNIT is a civilian to us. You can take the stick out now, no one's on ceremony. He's only here because my father worries."

Gwen is very tempted to continue bristling, but she has come for help and Kate's no nonsense approach to saluting probably extends to paperwork as well. She follows the other woman into the cafe.

Unsurprisingly, they're the only ones there, but the wait staff doesn't seem at all put out by it. On the contrary they're all clustering around Kate and Gwen suspects this a familiar haunt. Sure enough, as they are escorted to a window table, Kate says, "My father and the girls do family outings down here. They love the beach and he loves them, so it's a win-win all around."

Gwen sits, feeling horribly out-classed. Her father was a cobbler, not a world-famous army officer. This isn't her world and she has no idea how it works.

"The usual please, Elizabeth?"

The waitress nods and vanishes into the kitchen.

Kate leans back in her chair, examining Gwen. "So you're the new leader."

Gwen nods and tries not to think of a succession of horrible job interviews. It certainly feels like another one.

"What happened to Captain Harkness?" Kate asks, revealing way more of Torchwood internal affairs than Gwen is comfortable with her knowing.

Still, the accurate answer is "not a goddamn clue", which is what she says. Sans profanity.

Kate sighs. "I'll put people on it, but if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found."

"That's not why I'm here," Gwen mutters, looking vainly for the strength of will she's so ready to show to Owen or Tosh.

The waitress shows up with a plate of tea sandwiches and a cup of coffee for Kate, who appears to take it black.

"Sorry, didn't think. No dietary restrictions?" Kate looks genuinely concerned about this.

Gwen shakes her head. "Just decaf please?" Anything caffeinated will leave her jittering all over headquarters when she gets back.

The waitress vanishes again.

Kate takes a long sip of coffee. "It's been quite a morning already. Reports of a landing in Uganda, and of course we're not equipped to go bushwhacking and as ready as the locals are to accept help, the government is an utter pain."

"My area of operations is confined to Wales," Gwen says, more honestly than she'd intended to.

Putting her coffee back down, Kate grins. "Lucky you. Just a lot of sheep and the occasional actual person."

The teasing, more in jest than anything, is familiar and in spite of herself, Gwen relaxes. "At least we know what the countryside is. Do Londoners ever see sheep?"

Kate looks tempted to reply but stops herself. "If you're not here to find Jack, why do you need me?"

Gwen hesitates. Me. Not UNIT. _Me._ "I don't know what I'm doing." The words spill out and once they're said it's easy to find the next ones. "I'm the newest on the team but everyone else refuses to take charge and I'm just. I'm wallowing, I don't know what paperwork to do or how to record anything and it's a miracle no one's dead yet and there's no one to talk to, I have a boyfriend but he--"

"He doesn't know," Kate cuts her off. "For his own safety. Your team is nice but none of them are leaders, and you are. You're doing the best you can without any guidance and you're terrified it's not enough."

Shakily, Gwen nods.

Kate's smile, just a slight one, reappears. "Every officer has been there. You're just a little more screwed because there wasn't a neat handover."

Gwen takes a deep breath, and then a too-deep sip of her coffee.

"I can send an assistant over next week to help with which reports are mandated by Parliament, which ones are mandated by the UN, which ones UNIT likes to have, and what you should keep for records." Kate, God bless her, has clearly done this before.

Trying very hard not to spit out the boiling coffee, Gwen nods again.

Kate looks at her for a long moment. "Biweekly meetings would be best, I think."

Gwen's eyebrows shoot up.

"For the good of intra-organizational coordination, of course," she says smoothly, but she's smirking as she speaks. "After years--decades almost--of failing to talk, UNIT and Torchwood have got to learn to get along, don't they?"

Gwen can see exactly where this is going and starts to grin back. "Don't want to invite assistants, they'll just get in the way."

Kate looks like a very smug cat. "Precisely. Just the two of us, every other week. Does a week from Tuesday work for you?"

"If it doesn't, Ianto can just be in charge," Gwen mutters.

"That's the spirit."

~*~

Kate isn't sure about the other woman at first. Gwen is timid and unsure, and neither of those are good qualities for someone leading a force opposing alien invasions. As the tea goes on, it becomes clear that Gwen is mostly nervous, and, amusingly, mostly nervous about meeting _her_. As Kate continues to calm her, Gwen relaxes, turning into someone with a quick mind and quicker tongue.

Kate is intrigued.

She's also aware that Gwen mentioned a boyfriend.

By the time they depart, Gwen to a Hummer emblazoned with Torchwood on the side, Kate to her car, followed by her security detail, Kate is entertaining fantasies of just ignoring the boyfriend.

Unfortunately, her morals are a little too strong for the fantasies to go anywhere.

They are entertaining though.

~*~

A week and a half later they meet at the same cafe. Gwen still can't salute and Kate still orders for her. Habits die hard, and so on. The tea is distinctly calmer than the first, however, and by the end of this one the women are enthusiastically trading work stories. Kate knows the cafe owner--a victim of a Slitheen attack who had had to be relocated afterwards. No need to worry about the press.

Two weeks after that and they meet in a torrential downpour, Kate's guard holding an umbrella, Gwen arriving in a battered raincoat. The facade of teaching Gwen how to run an organization is rapidly fading, but neither cares.

They don't really have anyone else to talk to. Everyone Kate knows is either in UNIT or knows her father; either way, not a good choice to whine to about budgeting restrictions and arcane bylaws. Gwen is even worse off: she can only talk to three other people, all her direct inferior. So twice a month they meet and have coffee and talk about aliens and money.

It isn't the worst set-up in the world.

About three months in, they talk about men. Kate left hers; he was a UNIT ex-employee who wasn't in physical condition to deal with the stressors, and turned out not to have the patience to deal with her. Their daughters were identical twins, aged nine. Gwen loved Rhys, but as she told Kate, "not telling him is pulling us apart”.

Kate had made affirmative noises and paid for the cheque that time, but the issue was on both their minds. Things shift slightly without either really intending it. There’s more casual touching, less debates over who’ll pay, more sharing of personal information, less space between them when they sit.

Still, all that gets sidelined when Gwen shows up twenty minutes late and on the train, rather than driving. "He's back," she says before collapsing into her now-familiar chair.

Kate, who had gotten bored and ordered a first cup of coffee already, paused midway through a sip. "Did he offer any explanation?"

"Muttered some things about the Doctor and went off to sleep for two days." Gwen takes a sandwich before the waitress has even finished setting the tray down; from the circles under her eyes, Kate can't blame her. "'S why I'm late. He woke up and started talking."

Kate smiles. "My father would do the same thing after the Doctor went through."

Gwen makes an affirmative noise and finishes her bite. "Yes, but something's different. He's not acting like he just got back from saving the world, you know? He's closed off."

"And usurped your position," Kate says kindly.

"Bingo," Gwen mutters.

They eat in more or less silence for a while, only broken by occasional observations about the food. Finally Gwen says, "That means you don't need to do this anymore. Since I'm not in charge."

Kate tries  not to look pitying, she really does, but she's afraid it happens anyway. "This isn't a chore, Gwen. I like our meetings."

Gwen snorts but doesn't say anything.

"Meet again in two weeks?"

"Sure."

~*~

Gwen doesn't show.

Kate waits for two hours, keeping a conversation with the waitstaff and seeing if any can be recruited, before giving up and heading back to London. Just in case, she leaves a voicemail at Torchwood. She hears nothing back, not even a cursory "She doesn't want to talk", and it hurts more than it should.

 _She's just a friend_ Kate tries to convince herself, furiously ignoring that for a while, Gwen has been a little more than a friend.

~*~

There's another week of silence and then Kate is fresh out of patience and with three days off. It's no great effort to track down Rhys Williams, or get a home address and a job.

He's a trucker, which she doesn't hold against him. Much. Any number of UNIT soldiers had come from worse beginnings. Still, it's not a promising start when she shows up in plainclothes that still somehow look like a uniform in the trailer that's apparently his company headquarters.

"Who're you?"

Kate doesn't answer for a moment, trying to work out what Gwen sees in him. There has to be something; Gwen is smart enough not to stay with someone completely worthless, and Rhys isn't an abuser. "Kate Stewart," she replies plainly, looking up at him.

He grunts, frowning. "Whadda need?"

They're in private, or as close to private as a trailer is likely to get, so she tells him. "I'd like your permission to court Gwen."

His jaw literally drops. It isn't the first time she's seen that happen, but it never fails to amuse. "Pardon?"

Kate repeats the sentence, and adds, "We're friends through work. She's interested, I'm interested, and she mentioned you were in an open relationship."

Rhys still looks stunned. Kate has to backpedal for a moment before remembering that, whatever UNIT gets up to, Western civilization is still stuck on "one man, one woman". It's not till Rhys opens his mouth again that Kate begins to understand. "It's not that," he says first, sighing. "We're open alright but--we're engaged."

It's Kate's turn for being stunned. "She didn't mention that."

"Plays things close to her chest, does Gwen," Rhys says, and his mixed feelings on that are apparent.

Kate sighs, and firmly prepares to murder her emotions. "Well. My apologies."

Rhys runs a hand over his face. "Look. Just... look. I don't mind. I don't. I know there's something up with her work, and I trust her enough not to push. She loves me, and I trust her, alright? There's not gonna be any of this soap opera drama. I just wish..." He trails off briefly. "She keeps her troubles quiet, and I know there's secrets at her work, and I'd like to help but I can't if she doesn't let me." His eyes lose their unfocused look and he stares directly at Kate. "She trust you?"

If David had been anything like this, maybe she wouldn't have left him. "Yes," Kate says, reasonably sure it isn't a lie.

"She gonna tell you the things she doesn't tell me?"

"Yes," Kate says again, more confident about this one. She hadn't been sure about this move; there was something to be said for sneaking around behind everyone else's backs, but Rhys was previously an unknown.

Rhys smiles, and puts his hand out. "Then I give you my permission, for what it's worth."

She shakes it. "I wish I could tell you."

"Don't break her trust," he cuts her off. "She'll tell me when she tells me."

~*~

Rhys, Kate reflects on the drive back to London, is very Welsh.

Step one is a success, then. Time for step two.

~*~

Step two involves showing up to Torchwood Three with a crate of beer and three pizzas. After long negotiations, she'd ditched her escort in downtown Cardiff. She'd call them if anything went wrong, but it probably wouldn't. Probably. Torchwood was notoriously unpredictable.

"Owen, I told you to stop ordering under--" Gwen looks pissed as she opens the door, yelling behind her at Torchwood's doctor. She comes to a verbal and physical halt when she sees Kate. "What are you doing here?"

Kate raises the crate of beer. "May I come in?"

Gwen's eyes flicker to the beer, the pizza, and Kate's distinctly dressed-down jeans and sneakers. "No. Just--stay there." She slams the door.

A little surprised, Kate remains where she is. She should have been expecting anger, to be honest. Whatever thinking Gwen had previously done on her sexuality was obviously undergoing some change, and anger was a natural part of that.

Moments later, Gwen yanks the door open again, steps through, and closes it much more quietly behind her. "Seriously, why are you here? Jack'll have your head if he finds out."

Kate really doubts the threat, all things considered, but does back up and put the food on a countertop. "I wanted to talk."

"Yeah," Gwen says quietly. "Thought that might be it." She doesn't pause long enough for Kate to say anything though. "I'm sorry about disappearing. Jack's got strict rules and..." She trails off, looking around the room.

Kate knows Gwen well enough to know she isn't a rule-follower, but she takes the excuse. "I could just be a friend."

Gwen looks horrified. "No!" There's a moment of silence during which Kate manages to keep from smiling, and then Gwen says, "I didn't mean it like... I don't know what I meant."

Kate has gone through a thousand variations of this talk in her head, but the pizza smells good and there's something to be said for just going for it. "Gwen Cooper. I like you."

"Thanks?" Gwen says slowly, clearly not understanding. "Wait you— _oh_."

Kate waits.

"I mean... I like you back." Gwen has gone a stunning shade of red. "But Rhys."

If Rhys is the only stumbling block here, Kate will be thrilled. "I spoke to him earlier. He's fine with your relationship being open." Which is really a talk _Gwen_ should have had, all things considered, but one step at a time here.

Gwen turns even darker red. "You didn't--I mean--I don't--"

"Gwen," Kate says quietly, "may I kiss you?"

It's the right question. " _Please_ ," Gwen says.

Kate does.

~*~

It's not like the kiss was magic or anything, Gwen thinks later. It's just... well, it was, actually.

She's sitting in the same cafe, this time next to Kate, and their hands are clasped. On the other side of the table is Him, and Kate literally had to drive to Cardiff and trick her into the car to get her to show up to this meeting at all.

What's she supposed to say? Hello sir, I'm dating your daughter but actually engaged to a guy don't worry it's all consensual. It even _sounds_ absurd.

Kate appears to have none of these hangups. "Tea, as always?"

Former Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (and what is she supposed to call him?) nods. "An honour to meet you, Ms. Cooper."

Gwen knows she's gone bright red. "The same, sir," she mutters, vaguely aware she should reply to this.

"Alistair, please."

Kate snorts, hand clenching on hers. "I think she'd rather faint, daddy."

She's had bad first meetings with parents, but this is the absolute _worst_. He said meeting her is an _honour_. Her. An _honour_.

"Mr Stewart, then, for something not overly long."

She mutters something vague and reaches in relief for a sandwich.

Mr Stewart appears to know the waitress and is immediately in conversation with her.

"He's just a guy," Kate whispers in her ear. "Just like Jack."

Gwen inhales her sandwich and begins choking.

Kate, damn her, giggles. "Okay not like Jack," she says, handing Gwen a glass of water. "But he's human. And he wants to like you."

Gwen, still coughing, can't quite see where she fits into the Brigadier's worldview, but decides to focus on not dying.

By the time she's done downing water, Kate is talking to her father about several missions Gwen _knows_ were top secret, and it's easy to just sit back and let the conversation wander.

She gets through the meeting without embarrassing herself further, although goodbyes reach a new state of awkward. Kate remains outside with her as the escort helps her father into the UNIT car. "You did fine."

Gwen looks down. "Sure."

Surprisingly, Kate kisses her cheek. Neither are the sort for public displays of anything, no matter what goes on in the bedroom, and Gwen jerks so fast she almost gives Kate a black eye. "You did _fine_ ," she repeats with more emphasis. "Go home, save the world. I'll call you when I get back."

Nodding slowly, Gwen turns to face her--lover? Girlfriend? Kate. Her Kate. She reaches up and pulls Kate into a proper kiss.

One of the soldiers wolf-whistles.

Kate gives her forehead a quick peck and then pulls away, suddenly all business. "I'll have your stripes for that, Sergeant."

The soldier looks properly abashed. Kate brushes past him and gets in the backseat of the car.

Gwen watches them until the car is out of sight, and then turns toward the train station. What Jack doesn't know won't kill him. And even if it does, she thinks, amused. He'll recover anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this](http://eighthdoctor.tumblr.com/post/102585975292/atearsarahjane-starlingbirdsong-the-other) Tumblr post.
> 
> ETA: I wrote this between 8pm and 11pm last night; as such, I'm sure there are inaccuracies. Among other things, I'm categorically ignoring Downtime because a) I haven't seen it and b) it would take more work than I want to put in to make it compatible at this point.


End file.
